Goldilocks
by YourswithLove
Summary: Rachel pulls a Goldilocks on Finn, and then inserts herself into his life via a helpful lie, embarking them on fairytale-esque adventures with the obligatory happy ending. F/R AU
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time Finn had thought having Santana as a roommate would mean a relatively clean apartment, washed dishes (only her own, of course, he wasn't some kind of chauvinistic jerk who expected her to do all the house work) and a simpler life. But as he crept around in the dark, trying to be quiet he dodged three pairs of high-heeled shoes, bags and a myriad of clothes, including a short skirt, a couple of bras and a garter belt strewn across the floor. Santana, he'd realised was actually the girl version of Puck - maybe even a tiny bit worse. Finn wasn't like a super clean neat freak or anything but he'd stayed with Kurt for a few months while he was looking for this place so he got used to being tidy and always cleaning up after himself, lest he be subjected to Kurt's fury.

It wouldn't bother him so much if Santana had left a clear path from the door to his bedroom. She knew he was tired when he got home and a messy floor, and exhaustion, coupled with innate clumsiness meant that Finn hit the deck more often than not. She'd actually had the nerve to blame him for crushing a pair of her extremely expensive stilettos last week during a falling incident and as a highly competent graduate law student she had him convinced it was his fault. He rallied when Santana ordered him to pay punitive damages to the tune of $2500 ($2000 for the shoes, $500 for the emotional trauma because they were last seasons and she would never be able to find another pair). He just took them to a shoemaker who reattached the heel for 30 bucks. Living with Santana was proving to be a challenge only made bearable because they'd been best friends since high school.

Except on nights like this he totally wanted to revoke the whole best friend disclaimer. Someone was sleeping in his bed. And he couldn't imagine any other way this would've happened unless Santana had granted them permission. And it's not okay. It was like the one thing he was adamant about when they got a place together - Never let anyone sleep in his room.

"Even if you don't think I will be coming home," Finn was resolute, "I will know there has been someone in my bed and I will be super angry."

It's not that he is a no-germ freak either. Finn's just seen way too many restaurant health inspectors point out possible sources of infections and seen them flashing around their black lights, making all kinds of invisible stuff visible. And plus the whole moving out from Puck happened because of his cavalier attitude about fucking random and not so random girls in Finn's room, on Finn's bed.

At four am, all Finn ever wanted to do after the longest shift ever at the bar is slip into his 1200 thread Egyptian Cotton sheets (Kurt bought them, okay and they are fucking comfy) on his king size bed and sleep. Which was now impossible. Because his bed was occupied.

He has just changed over from full on night shifts to these new mid shifts that started at 6pm and finish at 3am and his body was still adjusting to different rates of caffeine consumption and stress. Plus, school had just gotten out for the summer and Finn volunteered to care for Maddie, Kurt and Blaine's daughter, during the school part of the day for her whole vacation and she is just this lovely but unstoppable ball of energy sent to test his patience and ability to pay attention. Finn knows if he doesn't get enough sleep she will figure it out and manipulate the situation because she's sneaky smart like that. Last summer she'd gotten him to agree to take her on an overnight trail ride because he was watching baseball and kept answering 'Yes' to her in the hope that she would sit quietly.

"Finn, do you like baseball?" she'd asked

"Yep," he answered, through a mouthful of peanuts.

"Finn, are we going to watch the whole game?" she'd whined.

"Yep," he replied, muffled by the mush in his mouth.

"Finn, do you think I could play baseball?" Maddie had no interest in baseball.

"Sure." He swallowed the mush and shoved another handful into his mouth.

"Finn, can we do this trail ride with Kirsty on Wednesday?" she snuck in.

"Don't see why not," he'd answered, cursing inwardly as the Cubs struck out. The commercials came on and he re-ran the conversation in his head. "Wait, what!"

Horses and ponies had been her cliché fad of last summer and Finn was happy she had lost interest in that because he was allergic to horse hair. According to Kurt her latest obsession was Fairy Tales. It was totally easier to organise vacation excursions about princesses in comparison to horses. For starters, Finn didn't have to invest in tissues, and antihistamines and nasal inhalers just to leave the house. When Maddie took an interest in something, it definitely became an obsession and although it proved a pain in the ass for him, she would totally appreciate this Goldilocks and his occupied bed story tomorrow.

Anyway, whoever was in his bed was minuscule and most likely a girl (based on size and lack of guy shoes or clothes anywhere on the floor of the apartment). His bed was huge because Finn's overly tall but this person was curled up in a ball right on the edge, completely burrowed in his blankets, facing the wall and barely taking up any room. He thought about kicking Goldilocks out but he never would because, firstly Finn totally valued uninterrupted sleep and secondly, he was well known for being stupidly considerate. Or maybe he could have slept next to them but that's just creepy, even though it's more than likely they wouldn't have any kind of contact. Instead, he was forced to tiptoe around his room collecting his sweat pants and sleepy shirt, swiping one of his pillows and retrieving a blanket from the hall closet trudging into the living room to make an uncomfortable bed out of the too short couch, falling asleep soon after due to utter exhaustion.

Rachel's iPhone alarm beeped at 6 am, way too early after going to bed only three hours ago but the facts were that she rose at the same time every day to ensure she maintained a consistent routine and she didn't want today to be any different. Except this was possibly the most perfect bed she has ever slept in. The mattress was not too firm or too soft, but just right, as well as being so spacious. And the pillows supported her neck, whichever way she turned. Fluffy blankets guaranteed enough warmth and everything smelt divine. Like fragrant fabric softener fresh mixed with a musky masculine scent that was to die for. So, she set the alarm for 8am, which would give her just two more hours to appreciate these luxurious accommodations and quickly went back to sleep to avoid her pounding hangover headache.

When the alarm sang again at 8am, Rachel was awake in an instant. This exceptional break in her routine put her on edge but she can't let the day get away from her. Being a Broadway performer has made Rachel extremely superstitious and following a plan is essential for her peace of mind. It would be too easy to apportion blame of a poor performance on not eating the correct foods or lack of sleep, instead of where it truly belonged - herself. Rachel's therapist was big on exposing her flaws and having her take responsibility for her actions. Although seemingly harsh one of Rachel's actual faults was being particularly eager to please which meant that she pretty much took every word the professional said as gospel. The battle between Rachel's ego and her inadequacies created a genuine conflict in her life.

You could say that her need to be accepted was how she resulted in attending an impromptu drunken sleep over with Santana and her friend, Quinn. Rachel's inability to read the social situation correctly meant she'd enjoyed her new acquaintances friendly flirting, suggestive dancing and invitation to sleep at her house, without realising that sleeping was not actually the proposition at all. Rachel had been terribly embarrassed when the situation sorted itself out but Santana was forgiving.

"Introduce me to some of those leggy dancers from Broadway and we'll call it square, pussy tease," Santana had joked, while Rachel sighed with relief. She probably would of ended up having a lesbian experience simply because she tried too hard to be obliging, despite absolutely no interest in girls at all - besides occasional jealousy.

She made the bed after she got up, as that was correct house guest etiquette and Rachel was a big believer in following protocol in these situations. Her biggest problem right now was that her party clothes from the night before were in the living room and she was dressed in a scanty, borrowed nightgown that just skimmed the bottom of her ass - obviously Santana was more confident in her own body and now that Rachel was sober she had regained her inhibitions and was embarrassed that someone might see her. Rachel's reticence about her state of undress may have been disregarded last night but it seemed her sense of organisation hadn't been forgotten as she made sure she folded the tight jeans and scoop neck top and placed them neatly on the couch, while hanging up her good coat in the hall closet. But as she snuck out of the room with the perfect bed she was horrified to see a very tall man lying on that couch with his pillow stacked on top of her clothes. Dismayed, Rachel attempted to tug her clothes out from under the slumbering man's head. She really didn't want to disturb him but she wanted to get dressed and get home. She tried easing them out with a side-to-side, inch by inch motion.

Shocking her, a large hand reached out and gripped her arm, stopping her movements. "What are you doing?" he asked sleepily.

Rachel was shocked because he'd looked so peaceful and she had tried to extract her clothes without waking him. She was even more surprised by how attractive he was, with scruffy stubble, sleepy brown eyes and sexy bed head hair.

"I'm so sorry but you're laying on my clothes," Rachel explained in a hushed voice. Finn didn't say anything but the way the girl was bent over made her silky nightgown dip giving him an excellent view of her cleavage. His eyes remained fixed on the area as she continued her explanation.

"I have to go. I've already wasted too much of the day sleeping and I feel terribly guilty about breaking my schedule. Please may I have my clothes." Politeness was Rachel's go to tactic no matter what the situation.

Finn was stuck in some kind of reverie, where he heard her words but couldn't stop looking at her awesome boobs. He had to shift for her to get her clothes but then she'd move and take away the vista. He raised his eyes to hers and realised she had absolutely no idea he'd been staring at her chest - she must not be used to wearing something so revealing or she had no idea how guys work. Finn thinks he recognises the gown as Santana's and knows that her boob job would have not allowed the material to gape open the way it had with this girl.

"Were you sleeping in my bed?" asks Finn, sitting up so she can locate her shirt and jeans. He doesn't understand why she was sleeping in his bed because she is exactly Santana's type - a girl - and she obviously came home with her. Or she actually is an extremely incompetent thief.

Rachel immediately blushed for two reasons. First of all, she realises she was sleeping in this attractive man's bed and her overimaginative mind immediately pictures them partaking in other vigorous activities on the divine mattress, which she shouldn't do because she has just met him. And furthermore, her thoughtlessness has caused him a few uncomfortable hours sleep on the couch. Her therapist's words describing Rachel as self-obsessed are revisited. Rachel was just so squished sleeping in bed with Santana and Quinn that she'd peeked in the other bedroom and in the absence of an occupant crawled into the bed.

"I'm so sorry," she apologised profusely straightening to her full height, facing him. "I didn't realise I was going to be inconveniencing anybody. Nobody was sleeping in there and I was like the little bear in that rhyme that keeps telling the other bears to roll over but I didn't want any of them to fall out."

Finn listens to her apology wide-eyed. Exactly how many others' is she talking about being in bed with? Santana would regale him later with the tales of her multiple encounter and he tells himself not to be resentful that she can so easily attract pretty girls like Goldilocks, who as it turns out actually has long, shiny, brown hair. He would never have guessed that this innocent looking brown eyed beauty was possibly into threesomes or more.

"Its fine," he says dismissively, even though it's not really. He is going to pay when Maddie arrived later this morning. They were supposed to row paddle boats in Central Park today and even if they end up going Maddie will be able to tell he is half-assing it and bribe him into doing something he had no intention of ever agreeing to.

Rachel can tell that it isn't fine or he would have never bought it up in the first place.

"I really am sorry," Rachel apologises again, and remembers that actions speak louder than words, "How about I dress and prepare breakfast to make up for my lack of consideration in regards to your bed?"

"Nah, it's cool. I always have a bowl of Cap'n Crunch for breakfast every morning."

"Shit!" Rachel exclaims and then claps a hand over her mouth in horror. Rachel seriously cannot believe her bad luck, no, not bad luck, these are the results of choices made, Dr. Corcoran would tell her.

"What?" Finn is alarmed by her loud expletive.

"I'm sorry again. Last night when we arrived at your apartment everyone was hungry and in an effort to minimise the hangover experience I forced them to eat your cereal, as it was the most nutritious food I could find and make given my level of intoxication."

"You ate all my cereal?" Finn pinches the bridge of his nose in a frustrated manner. First, his bed and now his cereal, seriously.

"Yes, but I didn't know it belonged to you," Rachel sighs and sits down on the couch next to him. "But I cleaned up your kitchen afterwards. It really was in quite an unhygienic state to prepare food there."

Usually he'd be more pissed at her for eating all of his cereal but if she cleaned up the disaster of a kitchen that Finn had been avoiding then that was the best news ever. Earlier in the week Santana had attempted to make something 'home cooked' for a date, which had ended up all over the stove and walls. She had told him that because she was Latina, Mexican cooking was in her blood, even though she had never actually attempted anything harder than toast. They'd ditched the dirty pots and congealed food covered plates but she was yet to actually pick up a cloth and wipe down any surface.

He jumped up to check out the clean kitchen, excitedly.

"I could kiss you!" he cried, because literally the whole room sparkled. He didn't know how she did it but she'd even restored the tiles and grout to a brand new white. Rachel followed him into the kitchen, blushing. She couldn't help smiling at his enthusiasm. Most people thought her need for excessive cleanliness was obsessive and were never this excited by her efforts.

Finn's day has improved considerably given that one of his major tasks on the schedule was already done. He was still shattered and that could be solved by going back to bed but Maddie would be here in the next hour and a half and then he'd just have to get up again. Goldilocks mentioned breakfast and he was thinking that someone cooking for him was so rare it shouldn't be taken for granted.

"So, you said something about breakfast?" he says offhandedly, giving her a choice but also ready to remind her that it was her fault he wasn't able to sleep soundly and that she'd whored out his cereal to her orgy associates.

"Yes, of course," she snapped into action immediately, "You have a very sparse pantry but I believe I saw last night that you have the ingredients for blueberry pancakes, or plain pancakes with bacon. And you also have maple syrup...I will just get dressed."

Finn doesn't want her to get dressed. To cover up her legs and ass would just be a tragedy. He is enjoying the way she flutters around the kitchen, bending and stretching to get bowls and spoons and the fresh food from the refrigerator as she talks because really she has a hot body that she should be proud to show off. His favourite part is definitely how he directs her to the highest cupboard for an appropriate plate, simply because he knows as her arms will be raised above her head the whole of her satin nightdress will rise to give him a peek of her flimsy underwear and shapely ass.

"Don't get changed." Finn wants to beg when she has organised her utensils and the meagre supplies she intends to create pancakes from but he doesn't because he can't reconcile this seemingly innocent girl with some kind of party princess that came home with Santana. And Finn wouldn't hit on a friend's fuck buddy anyway. It's sort of a sore spot for him right now.

As Rachel dressed she realised that this unexpected cooking session will put her to-do list out of whack but she feels the reparation her food preparation skills make to this admittedly good looking man will be worth it. He was ecstatic with the spotless kitchen and such a built body must appreciate food, which meant that Rachel's good deed of the day would be done early. Dr. Corcoran insisted that she do at least one selfless act for others each day because the guilt Rachel felt over her self- indulgent profession was alleviated knowing that she was able to help others, no matter how small the gesture.

Finn admires how she knows her way around the kitchen. She is clearly a skilled cook because she doesn't need any kind of recipe book and her actions seem well rehearsed. He sits on a stool at the bench, resting his head on his folded arms watching her confident steps and listening to her tuneful humming. They don't speak much which would usually be a bad sign on a date (not a date!) but in his lethargic state he is grateful to watch in silence and enjoy the peaceful mood in the room. The delicious aroma fills the kitchen and reminds Finn's growling stomach that he is starving.

"I'm Finn, by the way," he says as he hauls himself over to the fridge and fills his a glass with orange juice.

"Rachel," she murmurs, reluctantly sticking out her floury hand to shake his.

As they touch she is awed by the size difference - Quinn from last night had commented she had man hands and Rachel had laughed along despite being horribly offended. Therapy had taught Rachel that no good came from dwelling on what people thought and instead she should listen to others opinions and decide whether or not they were a valid concern that could be fixed, but how do you fix the size of your hands! Comparisons to Quinn, where Rachel found herself severely lacking drove her to drink way too many Mojitos and caused this strange situation, but it wasn't so bad. The possibility that Rachel would have a family to cook for seemed less and less likely, despite her intensive search so she enjoyed this brief fantasy.

Rachel served up a stack of blueberry pancakes to Finn and he dug in immediately. The pancakes tasted like fluffy clouds, the bacon was perfectly crispy and maple syrup propelled the dish to heavenly. She watched him eat, wanting to please. "Aren't you having any?" he asked, through a mouthful of food.

"No," Rachel says, "I'm a vegetarian but I avoid eggs also. Also I'm not particularly hungry because I ate 3 bowls of Cap' Crunch at 1am." She is embarrassed to remind him of her decorum faux pas.

The personal information Rachel shares opens a flood gate and they start chatting about their jobs and families and eating habits. Finn doesn't 'get' people that don't eat meat but it's their choice he supposes and he admires her determination to do something she believes in. Rachel is amazed that someone so young owns and manages such a popular bar. It was where they drank last night but apparently Finn was in the back tackling paper work while they danced. Rachel finds Finn easy to talk to and volunteers a lot of personal details, which is surprising because she usually tries to construct conversations around asking questions. Dr. Corcoran told Rachel that because, generally, people love to talk about themselves they will seek you out if they know you're a good listener. It had been a technique Rachel used to make new friends.

Finn likes the stuff he is learning about Goldilocks...Rachel, because it will help build his fairy tale anecdote to tell Maddie. As well as that, Rachel is a performer, which he finds interesting (he always used to want to be in a band, and occasionally he plays the drums at the bar) and she has two gay dads - so he might tell Kurt about her. Both Kurt and Blaine try to research the experiences of children of gay couples to help with their upbringing of Maddie and the potential problems she will face. And she is very pretty and he totally appreciates that she is one of those people that scrubs and scours as she cooks and the kitchen doesn't even look like someone just made the worlds' best pancakes in it a half hour ago.

Surprisingly, Rachel doesn't ask what his motivations for buying a bar were, or how he managed to accumulate the finance or what the job is like. But she does observe a similarity in their occupations, and Finn enjoys that a connection is being created between them.

"So, we are both in the business of supplying people with a good time," Rachel jokes, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"I suppose so," he grins, his laughing eyes conveying that he understood her undertone. The fact that Finn is a successful business owner, possesses the handsomest face she has ever gazed upon, and he appreciates her comedic comment almost has her dropping to her knees and proposing an elopement right then and there.

Their conversation is interrupted by both a sleepy eyed Santana and Quinn emerging from Santana's bedroom. Rachel is terribly envious of both girls ability to look so put together even though they had very little sleep and must be suffering from haranguing hangovers. Even though Rachel is cheerful with much less sleep than them because cleaning the kitchen took a fair amount of time and then she had to shower to wash the remnants of the smoke from the club and the residue from the cleaning products off her skin, they both appear surly and Santana is a far cry from the magnanimous person Rachel was introduced to last night. But what shocks Rachel the most is the look of horror on Finn's face when Quinn and Santana perch themselves on the stools either side of him.

"What's **she** doing here?" he demands, deliberately turning his back on Quinn and glaring furiously at Santana.

"Oh Finn," Santana replies with pitying sarcasm, "Are you not over this whole 'affair' thing yet? So, she stepped out on you and found someone else's greasy pole to slide up and down on. Apparently, you hadn't been providing the fun at the playground regularly. Promise to extend the hours of the fun house and she'll ride exclusively on your merry-go-round - problem solved!"

Rachel is embarrassed by the clever innuendo dished out by Santana but is not surprised that Finn and Quinn were romantically involved given Quinn's flawless beauty. Last night at the bar Rachel had watched as Quinn lapped up male attention letting many men buy her drinks and dance with her provocatively but slide out of their grasp when they went in for the clinch. She may not know much about relationships but Rachel knew a manipulative bitch when she met one. She could be considered one in some aspects of her life.

Finn doesn't want Quinn back, nor does he want to re-hash all of this old shit in front of Santana or Rachel. For some reason he is relieved that this Santana-Quinn-Rachel sleepover was obviously platonic because Quinn may be a cheater but she was as straight as an arrow. And he cares, not about what Quinn does but because Rachel seems like a nice girl who shouldn't get caught up in her crap.

He turns to face Quinn and says slowly and very clearly, "I _**do not**_ want to get back together. I moved _**without**_ telling you because I don't really want to see you again. It was over a long time before you fucked my _**employee**_. You are not a nice person."

Rachel watched Finn as he delivers a speech that would leave Rachel sobbing on the floor. Being completely pre-occupied with what others thought about her made her super sensitive to personal criticism. Ex-boyfriends had said "You're too busy to pay attention to me" meaning she waited too long to have sex with them, or "You're not willing to try anything new" meaning she wasn't confident or adventurous enough in bed, or the old chestnut, "It's not you, it's me" meaning they had met someone prettier who had bigger boobs, but no-one ever told her she wasn't a nice person. All of her exes were sincere when they said that they wanted to remain friends, usually because it benefitted them. She loved to clean and was a good cook.

Rachel turned to see Quinn's reaction to such harsh words and felt the laughter bubble up inside of her as her eyes followed the one solitary tear streak down her face. As the salty liquid hits her chin a loud giggle bursts forth from Rachel and is unstoppable as she doubled over laughing.

"What is your problem?" Quinn demanded self-righteously with her hands placed firmly on her hips. Finn, Santana and Quinn all focused on her but she couldn't stop laughing, which made them speechless with shock or indignation or something.

"That is not real emotion. I know because I'm a professional actress. And the only reason I can imagine that you are not appropriately distraught is because you believe your relationship is not over."

"That's because it's not. Finn, we are so good together and I made one mistake. You love me and we should be together," Quinn pleads, grabbing Finn's hands. "I'm the only girl you've been with, for fuck's sake."

Rachel couldn't believe that Quinn had met a monogamous man and had a relationship with him and pushed him away. Of course there are two sides to every story but Quinn's actions of the previous evening did not seem like those of a remorseful girlfriend. She watched Finn blush from embarrassment and felt so bad for him. Protective, even. Without realising it she opened her mouth and the words came tumbling out. "Not anymore," she said.

Everyone in the kitchen turned to look at her. "What?" Quinn shrieks, dropping Finn's hands, incensed.

"You're not the only girl he has slept with," Rachel is very convincing. Finn is amazed at Rachel's easy ability to lie but she is an actress so he assumes she is playing a part. He doesn't really know why she has stepped into the role but he is grateful.

"You slept with Finn?" Quinn reads between the lines and is livid.

"Yes, his bed is extremely comfortable," Rachel says.

"I can't believe this!" Quinn rages.

"Me either," Rachel deadpans, "I can't believe you'd give up that huge dick, but thank you."

"I can't believe you slept with my boyfriend."

"I can't believe he ever was your boyfriend," Rachel snaps, at the same time Finn protests, "I'm not your boyfriend anymore."

"Speaking of your not boyfriend, I need a few words with him," Rachel drags Finn by the hand into the bathroom of all places.

Finn head feels fuzzy from lack of sleep and he doesn't actually know how he is going to perpetuate this lie that Rachel has told. Lying is not his strong suit. Santana can always tell when he tries because she says his guilty behaviour is played put on his face like a gassy infant but she didn't try to invalidate Rachel's claims. In fact, she seemed quite stunned by Rachel's admission. Santana didn't mind Quinn personally but had been telling Finn for 3 years he could do better romantically. He figured that her earlier comments were supposed to make him angry or just stop being miserable and take Quinn back for good.

"Why did you do that?" Finn asks, perplexed, when they were safely cloistered in the bathroom.

"I don't know," Rachel answers honestly, although she knows she couldn't stand the way Quinn was stomping all over him. "At least when you get back together she will have more respect for you?"

"We aren't getting back together, but I probably will tell her the truth. I'm not good at lying," he admits.

"No!" Rachel grasps his upper arms and shakes gently. "Look, how long since you broke up?" She doesn't want him to give up so easily.

"About three months." Finn could actually tell Rachel that it was two months, three weeks, four days and about seven hours but that might make him seem pathetic.

"Okay," Rachel paces in the small space. "It's plausible that you woke me when you arrived home from your shift. Although, I must say it was extremely chivalrous to let me have your bed. But we can pretend that I seduced you when you woke me. I performed fellatio on you and then we had sexual intercourse once before we fell asleep. It's a perfectly believable story as you are extremely good-looking and I was quite inebriated, but possibly would have proposed the same thing even without being drunk. And even if you are not attracted to me, well, it has been three months between sexual encounters for you and I know I would be frustrated by a dry spell."

His head spins with the overload of information and he repeats her statements mentally. She thinks he is good-looking. She is willing to say she seduced him. She voluntarily gave him an imaginary blow job - Quinn had to be bargained with for that particular act – but she _might_ have even gone there without being drunk. She doesn't actually think she would be attractive to him. And lastly, she thinks three months is a dry spell. In retrospect it has probably been about 5 months because Quinn and Finn were on the rocks a while before she screwed his bartender behind his back.

"Okay," Finn says, "I guess I can spin that story."

"Excellent! A good lie depends on the details," Rachel claps her hands together excitedly. "Feel free to wax lyrical about me. I am very flexible. However, that wasn't the only reason I dragged you in here."

Finn wonders why she did. Maybe she would turn their lie into truth - that would be pretty awesome.

"Is this your toothbrush?" Rachel holds out the blue toothbrush sitting in the holder. Finn has no idea where this is going.

"Yes," he answers.

"It figures," Rachel sighs resignedly. "You need a new toothbrush. I bleached the kitchen tile grout with this one."

Finn sighed. His bed. His cereal. His toothbrush. She really was Goldilocks.

**A/N** _I am in the editing process of the next chapter of Let them eat cake or a favour for a friend, and will be uploading that either later today or tomorrow but I wrote this before I started that story and finally figured out where I want it to go so I decided to go with it. I had trouble with tense in this one, but thank you for reading!_


	2. Cinderella

A/N I just got back to writing this after a long break but I think you can really see the differences (hopefully improvements) in my writing style. Thanks for reviewing and all that jazz.

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Cinderella

Finn's love for keeping his bed unoccupied by anybody else but him, as well as uncontaminated as possible was well known amongst his group of friends. Which was why both Santana and Quinn watched in fascination as Finn crawled back to bed once Rachel departed the apartment, after shocking them all to the core with her embellished story of lust, followed by demonstrative affection.

Santana expected him to rip the sheets from the bed and spend his morning in the laundry room, scolding her from a place of misplaced rage (despite being his best friend). Her belief was that his sudden necessity to keep all other people and germs and stuff out of his bed was a metaphor. Since Quinn once occupied his bed on a regular basis and she'd screwed him over by screwing someone else, as well as being shocked to discover Puck's idea of impressing a revolving door of women was with 'his' clean sheets, Finn focused on what he could control – his environment. (Santana may not have come up with this theory alone. Her friend with benefits girl, Marley, was a psychology student and helped her isolate her hypothesis.) She couldn't say she was disappointed though – she often felt maligned by Finn and escaping his reprimand meant she could also go back to bed and not offer to make amends for an action that wasn't her fault in the first place.

Quinn was the only one left standing there, somberly reflecting.

Santana yawned, feeling somewhat accomplished. Accidently, but not unhappily she'd managed to wipe Finn clean of Quinn's influence.

"I guess you can go home, huh. Didn't turn out quite the way you'd hoped, I bet. Who would've thought that tiny no-breasted spitfire was Finn's type? You just never know with these things, right," Santana sneered and despite usually thriving off an argument, escaped to her room, not giving Quinn a second glance.

Some time later Finn woke up suddenly. He hadn't meant to fall asleep after he'd turned his back on Quinn. Retreating to his room he'd felt a heaviness lift from heart. Seeing himself from Santana's perspective for a second, he'd realized that he'd been dragging down everyone around him. Being so ritualistic about stuff, he figured even Maddie was trying to shake him out of his doldrums.

He'd laid down with his head on the pillows, catching the subtle scent from Rachel's hair. He had to admit that their combined smell was something special, weirdly reminding him of apple pie and vanilla ice cream. It was entirely comforting. Given his relaxed state and the contented fullness of his stomach it was inevitable that he'd drifted off. Bizarrely, Rachel had offered him peace.

In that state of panicked drowsiness he swung his feet onto the floor, and looked at the clock. Maddie had been due to arrive about 15 minutes earlier and although she had her own key and would have been quite capable of entertaining herself, her super smart people interpreting skills had broken Finn open the minute they'd met and she expertly managed to manipulate all manner of feelings he had towards her; empathy, sympathy, guilt, love.

Feeling a prick as his foot met the carpet, he bent down to examine the sharp object embedded in the fabric, which appeared to be an earring. Holding the curved post he catalogued the sparkling diamond. Obviously it wasn't his but he was still unsure of its origin. Carrying it with him he entered the lounge.

"Hey, you," Finn said, ruffling Maddie's hair as he walked past the back of the couch, collapsing down next to her, "What are you doing?"

"Reading," she said, holding her IPad out to him to indicate the typed words and print. "Your Wi-Fi sucks, by the way. Its snail like sloth is shocking in this day and age."

Maddie was only 12, but was gifted. Coupled with her neglectful start to life, she was decidedly cynical and way more observant than most adults. She'd been shopped around to many foster homes, using her intelligence as the supreme weapon against feeling too attached. She'd never counted on Kurt's incredibly sarcastic responses and Blaine's forgiving nature, as well as Finn and his parents' unconditional acceptance though.

"What are you reading?" Finn asked, mostly out of politeness. Last time he'd asked she embarrassed Finn by answering with_ 'Of Mice and Men'_, which was apparently an American classic, that was listed as required reading in High School. Finn had to admit that he'd watched the movie instead.

"Nothing that you'd be interested in," she said, blushing and exited out of the app, "What've you got there?"

Finn hadn't realized he'd been twisting the earring post between his thumb and forefinger, but handed it over to her for a closer look.

"Is this yours?"

Her angry scowl flashed. "_I don't have pierced ears_**.** Kurt and Blaine won't let me. They said 'That's a decision you can make when you're a little bit older,' remember?" Maddie's ability to mimic Kurt's high pitched lecturing voice always left Finn laughing.

"Oh yeah," he smirked, "So you went out and got a henna tattoo, telling them it was real and then got grounded for a month."

"Yeah." Maddie didn't like the way this story turned out.

"And then, you set fire to your poems in the tin trash can and burnt that huge scorch mark into the wooden floor boards." Finn loud guffaws forced a small grin from Maddie, "Kurt called the fire brigade and Blaine told him he was stupid."

"But they bought me that awesome black and white rug, with the skulls embroidered to conceal my recklessness. So all's' well that ends well," said Maddie, in, what Finn figured was a Shakespearian accent.

"I wonder if its Santana's then?" They both gazed at the colorful light the diamond cast. "I found it in my room."

"Or, maybe its Quinn's" Maddie added slyly, purposely acknowledging her understanding of physical relationships. (She'd forced Finn to give her 'the talk' one day before erupting into laughter because she was already quite aware where babies came from. 'I was a foster child, Finn,' she laughed humorlessly, hinting at her dark past, 'I _saw_ how babies were made.')

"Maybe," he pursed his lips to show Maddie he was annoyed at her suggested owner. He was quite sure Maddie understood the basic details about what had happened between him and Quinn.

"Aren't you and Quinn back together yet?" she commented, interestedly, "Kurt and Blaine have a bet going on what day you'll take her back. Although they did say you'd be dumb to consider it. And then, because they still don't understand I am training for a future in espionage and see and hear all, Blaine told Kurt he thinks you're a masochist. Which I was unsure about the definition of, so I looked it up. And apparently it means that you enjoy pain. But I didn't really understand, so I asked Cara, you know, the senior that looks after me and she said, 'Your uncle is into whips and chains, sweetie. Like that '_50 Shades of Grey'_ book?'. So I stole Kurt's credit card and downloaded a copy but its really weird. Are you really like that, Finn?"

Finn swallowed his rage and concern, reminding himself to have a word to Kurt about his babysitter's lack of discretion and said calmly, "Maddie, lets just delete that book, okay and I won't tell Kurt about the whole credit card theft. I think Blaine said that because Quinn hurt my feelings but it _still_ took me a long time to decide she wasn't the right girl for me. _Because she isn't_," he added emphatically.

"Okay," Maddie could feign ignorance if it meant she wouldn't be grounded this week.

"So what do you want to do today?" Finn changed the subject, hoping her destination wasn't too loud or weird. And he hoped it didn't involve horses.

"I think," Maddie said excitedly, diving back into her innocent self and surfacing to show off the princess obsession Finn had heard about, "We should quest to find the owner of the lost earring. You can make a list of possible people, most probably girls that could have lost this item and we will travel far and wide via the subway to return this to her. Or him."

"Okay. Cool," Finn replied.

As he showered (making sure he deleted Maddie's inappropriate reading material first) he thought about whom the earring could belong to. Quinn had been in his room. She'd developed a habit of dropping by to return items he forgotten at her house, or 'just to catch up'. Finn was ashamed to admit that every time she'd come over he desperately wanted to forgive her, but he was too prideful. A lost earring sounded like an elaborate scheme to corner Finn for another seduction attempt so Quinn was definitely his front-runner.

Santana misplaced almost everything she owned. Her habit of disrobing all over their apartment had resulted in many frantic searches for necklaces, shoes and belts on occasion but Finn was unsure whether diamond earrings were something Santana wore. He'd never examined her ears, even when she'd hastily and mistakenly taken his virginity.

And then there was Rachel. He decided to save her for last. Because although he'd really liked her, it was slightly embarrassing to meet up with a girl you'd used as a revenge pawn to taunt an ex-girlfriend, even if Rachel had been the one who suggested such extreme tactics and taken the lead with the façade. Thinking about her sent his stomach swirling. Her ability to read Quinn and pinpoint her weakness while lauding Finn, lying about their level of relationship was totally hot. And she was really pretty.

On the subway, Finn discussed his strategy with Maddie.

"We've got to go and see Santana first. I'm pretty sure she promised me that she would've cleaned the apartment if she didn't have to meet some study group over at Columbia."

"Are you sure?" Maddie stated the obvious, "She is a bit of a liar."

"Well, I texted her before and we are going to meet her for lunch so she is either at the Columbia library or doing someone, I mean, something in one of the dorms. Either way we will be able to cross her off our list."

Finn and Maddie wasted time strolling around Columbia, with Maddie dragging Finn all over the campus to look at various plants and buildings. Her appreciation of architecture and nature made Finn smile because her enthusiasm was pleasantly contagious. Then they'd met with Santana and she'd denied all knowledge of the earring.

"Not mine," she shrugged, discussing their quest over curly fries. "I've never seen it before. Could be Quinn's."

Finn waited until Maddie ambled over to some college cliché guitar-playing guy, still watching carefully in case he was creepy before asking Santana for Rachel's number.

"You really are out of practice, Finn," Santana tisked, "You forgot to get your one night stand's digits. Luckily, or unluckily as you might see I have exactly what you need. Which may I remind you is completely wrong since I didn't get any sugar from that sweet thing. I'm nowhere near finished with my '_project' _and I'm due at Tina's to babysit Abby. I propose a deal."

"What the fuck, Santana!" Finn exclaimed.

"It's only fair, Finn. And Tina won't mind. She might actually manage to get something done if you take Abby off her hands."

Maddie finished developing her flirting technique with the guy who was way too old for her anyway and found her way back to Finn and Santana.

"We've got to go get Abby," Finn shot daggers at Santana and dragged Maddie towards the bridge that connected the main campus and the law school, shouting, "Text me the details."

On the subway, Maddie painted a positive picture of their additional responsibility.

"The conditions of our quest are becoming more difficult. It's to be expected, really. A quest cannot be simple or it wouldn't be a quest."

So, together they collected Abby and her baggage, waved off by an ecstatic Tina. Finn didn't really need to do anything because Maddie loved Abby like a sister and took care of her. Plus Abby was five and didn't wear nappies or drink bottles. Basically Finn and Maddie were glorified distractors.

The three of them, looking very strange together since Maddie could have been a Nordic princess in a former life, Abby was South Korean American and Finn was tall, dark haired but as pale as snow marched towards the bar.

Finn knew the bar was no place for children, but he could let them watch TV in his office while he chatted with Quinn between customers. Awkwardly, Finn had recently learned you weren't able to fire employees because they fucked around behind your back. What made the situation worse was that the guy that Quinn cheated with was the best bartender _Hudson's_ had. It was like the biggest fuck you Quinn could deliver, since she'd always known that Finn's greatest joy was the bar he'd named for his Dad.

"It's not mine," she spat, vehemently, carelessly tossing the earring back at him, "And your little tactic of asking me about it is cruel. First you throw how easy it was for you to move on in my face and now you actually follow up."

Finn scoffed at her dramatics, considering she was the one who'd cheated on him. He never realized she was so in need of attention, or that he was loathe to actually give her any. Preferring to analyze marketing strategies with Sam, his business partner, than go dancing with Quinn had driven her into the arms and very coordinated hands of Joe.

Turning responsibility for Quinn's hysterics to his duty manager, Ryder, he guiltily slunk off to make arrangements with Rachel to drop the earring by her apartment.

Rachel returned to her apartment that morning feeling invincible. She felt like she'd actually achieved something monumental by defending Finn's honor and upholding his masculinity as being irresistible, even though it was more than likely that the beautiful guy would recommence his romance with the beautiful girl. Life just worked that way, or at least, love worked that way in all of the instances Rachel had seen.

Feeling rebellious she'd even cancelled her therapy appointment with Dr. Corcoran for later that day and switched off her telephone to avoid calls from her. Rachel had actually felt like she'd made a connection with Finn, understanding his trauma and applied herself to best teach Quinn a lesson. Rachel may never have been treated badly by an ex lover but when she'd sought out a relationship with her mother, only to be told that Dr. Corcoran was emotionally unavailable but could take her on as a paying therapy patient was devastating. And, of course Rachel had immediately agreed. Which was why she was so determined to step in and rescue Finn from a similar fate.

She'd been so happy he had called because she liked the sound of his voice. Knowing that he was going out of his way to return her earring solidified the faith she had in herself for making good judgments. Dr. Corcoran had specifically warned her about not trusting people before testing them but Rachel knew that Finn was something special.

Her doorman rang and informed her of Finn's arrival, so she had him come up, only to be greeted by Finn, and two children.

"This is Maddie," Finn indicated the taller one, while holding up their joined hands to tell Rachel, "And that's Abby. I'm babysitting."

"Not a baby," reminded Abby while Maddie launched herself onto Rachel's over stuffed couch sending a myriad of cushions flying.

"And our quest is done!" Maddie announced to the room, without being specific.

Rachel looked questioningly at Finn, as he struggled to contain Abby. She was desperate to touch the many glass objects, waxy flowers and expensive looking magazines spread over the coffee table.

"It's okay," Rachel said amiably, "Everything is replaceable. Tell me about your quest."

"We've been searching for you high and low," Maddie interrupted, lowering her voice to become a storyteller, "Two wicked women stood in our path, but we prevailed. You are the sunshine and the light to their darkness. A true princess."

Rachel was bewildered, so Finn explained about their day and how they'd tried to place the earring with Santana and Quinn but no dice.

Finn could see how Maddie could turn Rachel into a metaphor. Her apartment caught the afternoon sun and was styled in expensive white and creams, with splashes of color. Kurt would come in his pants just by walking inside, which was contradicted by Rachel's easygoing attitude to her luxurious belongings. She let Maddie and Abby re-arrange the flowers in the vases, with Abby doing more disintegrating of the petals than creating a new stylish bouquet. She served them all chocolate milk in glass goblets, with coasters, sitting on cushions around the coffee table.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I don't have anything else."

"They're cool, Rachel," Maddie intervened, hoping to help her feel better. Abby had snuggled into Maddie arms and was napping.

"And I can't thank you enough," Finn started to say but realized he'd have to censor his speech, given Maddie's skill at spying, "You really helped me out with Quinn. I actually felt better about our break up and ready to put it behind me."

"That's great," Rachel squeezed Finn's upper arm and met his eyes, hoping to convey the depth of her feelings without being overly obvious in front of Maddie and Abby.

Finn felt her gaze and stared into her eyes for a seemingly long period. Probably too long to be subtle or guarded but honestly, his heart hadn't beaten this fast and the adrenaline hadn't kicked in for quite some time. Maddie would notice the anomaly definitely but he still couldn't tear himself away.

"So Rachel," Maddie disrupted their staring contest, "In our narrative here we returned a possession of great worth. And we'd already come to the conclusion that you were our beautiful princess, awaiting the spoils of our quest. I guess that makes us heroes and we deserve to be rewarded."

"I think this delicious chocolate milk is our reward," Finn answered, embarrassed at Maddie's ungrateful and brazen declaration.

"No, Finn," Maddie's impertinence continued, "You are our hero and deserved to be praised. Your bravery should be extolled by all who know you. Or Rachel could compensate your quest in the traditional manner; a kiss."

"Maddie!" Finn grabbed her arm, glaring at her while she continued smiling sweetly.

"It's okay, Finn. You do deserve a kiss," Rachel played along. "You've battled two witches, travelled far distances on questionable transportation and returned an heirloom to me. I'm eternally grateful."

She rose onto her knees, with her hands against the table, bracing her weight. Finn laid his warm palm on her cheek, his thumb brushing the stray traces of chocolate milk in the corner of her mouth. Rachel breathed deeply, slightly parting her lips, feeling Finn's bottom lip graze the gap kissing her upper lip. He pulled back marginally to realign and she felt his tongue slide into her mouth and trace along the inside of her bottom lip. Rachel heard herself sigh, encouraging Finn to continue. She let him learn her mouth until Maddie coughed delicately and they broke apart, discomfited at their desire.

"I believe we have been well and truly remunerated now," Maddie decided, disgusted that her Uncle Finn could be so gross in front of her. "I'm not sure this is true, Rachel but Finn may be implicated in all of that whips and chains business so you may want to think about involving yourself…."

"Shut up, Maddie!" Finn jumped and pulled her up with him, waking Abby. "I think we'd better go now."

Rachel and Finn said their goodbyes quickly, as Finn didn't need Maddie repeating or spreading any other humiliating and false information about his sex life. They didn't mention a date or further contact but Finn knew he would text her soon. She tasted as sweet as the scent she'd left on his pillows.

They walked exhaustedly back to the subway to take Abby home to Tina. She sat on Finn's shoulders, enjoying the ride.

"Was that lady really a princess?" Abby asked, from atop her lofty perch.

"I'm pretty sure she was," Maddie replied, proud at her improving ability to mortify adults in her life, "I'm thinking she was a bit like Cinderella."


End file.
